Dark Day

Supliment

Breaking news, a double homicide last night at the Lady of Immaculate Forgiveness claimed the life of the beloved Pastor and one of our own, a long time investigative reporter. The city has lost two of it’s jewels and we are reminded that the streets can be unforgiving even to those who dedicate their lives to making it better.

In response, the police chief has stated that they will step up patrols in the area and increase their use of “Stop and Seize” to get more weapons off of our streets. In addition, he stated that he would be increasing the number of citizen “Preserver” groups to help augment the police force in neighborhood patrols. These Preserver groups have been a blessing to the city as they are from the communities and bring a less threatening form of policing to our streets.

We are saddened but we also celebrate the life of our fallen comrade of truth, you will be missed.

Supliment

Post to “Dark Day Truth” site and several other news media sites. Was online for approximately 3 minutes before being erased by unknown hacking software.

The truth, it doesn’t set us free, it’s a prison. Flight 1237, only three survivors remain, and I had a chance to talk to one of them, a preacher, and now, I am not sure what to think. It doesn’t make sense, but I guess it makes perfect sense, all of it. They were ON THEFLIGHT, all of them, but they didn’t crash with the rest of the plane, they crashed, somewhere else…

I have talked with so many conspiracy theorists over the past year, each one with a compelling story, each one different, but, at the same time, some things seem to match, to be similar and the preachers story makes it all seem to fit. I am compiling the data into a story to get it out, but I wont be able to do it through my paper, they have already told me to drop it, that people are tired of hoaxes and conspiracies, people want to move on.

The preacher told me he thought he was being watched, thought that he might get out of town before he fell victim to an “accident” like the others. I don’t know what to think, but I would warn the other two survivors, get out of L.A. as soon as you can, get out and get far away…

Supliment

The Mystery of Flight 1237, the Mystery Continues

Last year we brought you the unfortunate tale of Flight 1237, a passenger plan that crashed into the L.A. suburbs on Dark Day. Everyone on board was killed, but a handful of people, through luck, or fate, were not able to make the flight. They were spared that day, but it would appear that the Dark Day and Flight 1237 is still talking its toll on the survivors. We had wanted to do a follow-up on the survivors to mark the one year anniversary of DD; however, when we reached out we found out something disturbing. The survivors of FLight 1237 are dying off at an alarming rate. Four to suicides, three to accidents, and one killed by the L.A. police in a stand-off a couple weeks ago that went largely unreported.

When we asked family and friends we got a mix of stories, many of them similar to ones we have heard when talking to people about DD. The only exception was Tom Grendin, an out of work construction worker who took several people hostage at a local office building and was finally killed by police. We spoke to his neighbors and his brother and both said that Tom had been increasingly paranoid, had moved to a small trailer in the mountains and had stopped almost all communications with his friends and family. His brother stated that he was obsessed with the other passengers and their deaths. During the brief attempt at negotiations with Mr. Grendin, he had stated he wanted the media present because he had a story that would blow the lid off of every DD theory out there.

Mr. Grendin’s story is not unfamiliar, and we wanted to run this piece to remind folks to keep an eye out for each other, look for the signs of depression, or delusion that can lead to these types of self destructive behaviors. Only a very few survivors of Flight 1237 still live and we can hope that they have the support system in place to help them deal with their experience.

Hamburg Cell Complete?

The helicopter ride is mostly quiet, beyond the rushing sound of the rotors. Periodically you hear in your ear pieces the soft mumbled “Allah Akbar” from the pilot who is probably relieved to not have to travelled to paradise quite yet.

Both the prisoner and Lucy remain unconscious for the trip. He wakes up as the bird descends to a small landing platform outside of an old warehouse on the outskirts of town. A group of a dozen or so Arabic men come rushing out of the warehouse, some cheering, others nearly crying with joy at having their brother returned to them. They help him off of the helicopter then will assist in moving Lucy. They will be very deferential to the players and thank them over and over again.

Another group of men of mixed ethnicities come out and begin attaching a tow bar to the helicopter and then drag it into the warehouse.

The players are escorted into the warehouse which has a makeshift medical area. There is a doctor there but he will again defer to the players regarding their treatment. Lucy’s blood pressure and heart rate remain dangerously high 180/100 but her body temperature remains cool. She will remain so for almost two days.

After the players have settled in or begin looking for Qusay, one of the men will wheel a TV cart attached to a satellite phone over to where the players are congregating. Col. Frost’s image is on the TV:
“Don’t bother looking, I sent Qusay away for a while. No need to let hot heads get the best of us.” He pauses and then “I hear congratulations are in order. Mission accomplished and all. I know your probably mad as hell but you know the stakes, and I know that Lucy, maybe more than the rest of you, knows what it is we are facing. I am glad she made it out alright, I am glad you all did.”

He pulls the wet mangled cigar stub from his mouth, “This was a big hit, the Shades will be busy covering this up and trying to figure out who did this. I wouldn’t stay in Germany too long, it won’t take a genius to eventually get fishy about a group of American diplomats just tooling around. Get back to the States and lay low until I reach out with you for the start of our big operation. Don’t go getting killed between now and then. Frost out.”

With that the screen goes dark and the man pushes the TV cart back into a small closet.

Adventure, Season 3

Group was sent to Hamburg Germany to help the Cell there recover member of the cell that was picked up by German police and arrested for not having identification. He was taken to a secret prison in a high-rise building in downtown Hamburg.
In Germany the group connected up with Qusay Hussein, head of operations in Germany, and got a more detailed briefing. Group needs to:
1. Access the building (with aid of Qusay’s men and a magic scroll of invisibility)
2. Secure the prisoner
3. Destroy any physical evidence (DNA) using another magical scroll provided by Qusay.
4. Introduce a computer virus to the prison’s computer network to erase all digital evidence of the arrest.
5. Extraction from the roof via helicopter (probably under fire)

Biggest concern is that there are rumors that a squad (6-9 members) of a specialized SWAT team are on duty at all times at the prison and that they know of and willingly serve the Nightlords.

Traitor Revealed

The elevator slowly grinds to a halt, it’s been a long way down, you figure it must be at least a hundred feet or more underground. The doors slide open and reveal a long corridor of concrete, broken up periodically by heavy steel doors and smaller offshoots.
“Welcome to the Hole” Col. Frost states almost proudly “this is where we have been entertaining our guest”.
As you walk down the long corridor you see through small windows in some of the doors teams of people in yellow and light blue protective suits working in laboratories and machine shops. Even through the thick walls you can hear the occasional pop, pop of an internal small-arms range. You are impressed with how clean and neat everything is, although as it is a military base it isn’t a surprise.

Lucy- The door opens and the smell of rotting food quickly fills the elevator. The hallway is dark and musty. A sickly yellow moss is growing from spider-web-like cracks along the walls and there is a distinct sound of flies buzzing in your head. As you go further down the corridor the smell and the buzzing become more prominent, stopping you momentarily in your tracks. Velma asks you if you are ok, you lie and say its something you ate.

Col. Frost takes you past a heavy door guarded by two soldiers in full combat dress, weapons ready, and into a small conference room. On one wall is a one-way mirror looking into another similar room. Sitting behind an oval desk sits a thin man with long slick hair and an expensive suit. He appears to be doodling on a pad of paper. Col. Frost points to the man “You’re not going to believe this but…your looking at Lord Foulseed. A Nightlord. He says he wants to help us”.

Lucy- The sound of flies is almost deafening and you find it hard to hear what the colonel or the rest of your group is saying. You look past the one way mirror and a set of sickly yellow eyes stares directly back at you. You feel your legs begin to weaken and you reflexively reach for the handle of your knife. As you touch it you feel your strength renewed. There is a moment of realization in the yellow eyes and then just a mirror.

“How did you catch him” someone asks.
“We didn’t” Frost admits, “He just walked up to the front gate and turned himself in. At first we thought it had to be a trick or a lie, but if he isn’t really who he says he is, he sure does know a lot about the bastards.”
“What does he want?”
Col. Frost rubs his chin and shakes his head, “He says he wants to help us against King Molloch, says that Molloch has betrayed the Nightlords and led them astray with lies and misdirection.”
“That sounds very humanitarian of him” someone jests.
Col. Frost smiles, “well, I think he did mention the fact that he thought he should be running the show over there, in the Nightlands, never said he wasn’t a selfish bastard, just that he might be a bastard we can work with”.

Lucy- You have made your way slowly across the room. Your feet pulling you to the door leading to the chamber of the monster. No one seems to have noticed you as your hand wraps around the door handle and when they do notice it is too late. In one fluid motion you swing the door open, leap across the room and draw your blade. It sings into life in your hands, elongating into the deadly killing blade. The yellow eyes look up as you swing, the blade making a path straight for Foulseeds neck; but, you miss. The blade almost seems to shift in shape around the flesh of the Nightlord and then snap back into place a second later. Foulseed smiles, it is not a kind smile.“So now you want to kill me. Well, you had your chance and made your decision, you cannot go back now can you? I feel your not alone, yes, that is what Tower is up to, well, it wont work, your time is passed”.You feel the strength leave your body and the world turn black.
Outside the group all turns, yelling as they watch with horror as Lucy goes to kill the Nightlord, but then comes up short, missing the target. The Nightlord’s tone is mocking and cruel as he unleashes a string of bereavements.
“Strange” Velma says quietly to Guy. “I’m looking at his face, his eyes and I don’t think he is talking to her”.
Just then Lucy collapses and the group rushes in and takes her quickly from the room. Col. Frost has her brought to an infirmary and the players can choose to remain until Lucy regains consciousness or go with Frost to their new quarters.

Supliment

The mystery of Flight 1237 is one of the enduring mysteries resulting from Dark Day. The plane, which according to Hong Kong flight records, took off on New Years Eve and should have landed in Los Angeles around 6am, the same time that the Dark Day phenomenon began. It has been a little over one year since that day and I am revisiting it because the story has recently taken a sad, and some might say, a sinister turn. For those of you not familiar with the fate of Flight 1237 let me catch you up:
- the plane never landed in Los Angeles and was at first presumed to have gone down in the ocean.
- reports started coming in that a plane had crashed in a suburb northeast of the city.
- State and Federal officials later stated that indeed the plane had crashed and killed all onboard, but…
- photos taken of the scene of the crash by locals and according to witness testimony only a twenty foot section of the plane was actually found; however, bodies were found strewn over a ten mile path that were tied back to passengers on the plane.
- only half of the bodies were positively identified by their next of kin; the other half were presented only ashes and told their loved ones had been destroyed.

A small handful of passengers that were supposed to be on that flight had been delayed and were routed onto another flight the following week when things slowly began to return to normal, at least that is what the government wanted you to believe. I caught up with one of these “lucky” people a few months ago in an insane asylum. They had been committed by their own family for delusions and trauma caused by Dark Day.

On 10 May 2000, a large group of Pop and Rock & Roll musicians, headed by the veteran rocking-for-a-cause Bruce Springsteen put on a massive two day show called "Bringing Back the Light: A concert for hope and recovery after Dark Day. The concert was held in Madison Square Garden to a sold-out audience and to millions of more people around the world via television. Mid-way through the concert all power went out plunging the crowd into darkness and into a massive panic. Forty people were trampled to death and a massive fire consumed most of the Garden and the surrounding area. The TV crews had abandoned their cameras and the whole scene, what could be seen in the light of fires and flashlights played out across the world. Instead of helping to ease fears it was seen as a colossal failure and only deepened the feeling of dread most people were still dealing with.

The small TV, propped up on the diner’s counter, is hard to see over the group of bobbing heads but the sound carries through the diner. The screen switches from a repeating public service announcement about staying indoors to the CNN logo. Cheesy ominous music plays while the title “Darkness Across The World” fades into view.

The view changes to that of a reporter, well known day time Entertainment reporter, Brad Johnson, and a busy newsroom behind him. His uniform is a tidy grey with a white shirt and light blue tie.

“Good morning, I’m Brad Johnson, and we are continuing our round the clock cover of what can only be called a complete blackout of the sky. We are still waiting for a speech by the President of the United States and will cut to it the moment it starts.”

“Until then we have assembled a panel of experts from the scientific, religious, and the fringe communities to discuss this phenomenon. My first guess is well renowned physicist Dr Russell Basset. Dr Basset heads up NASA’s deep space research who wrote a book two years ago about studying comet tails. Thank you for joining us tonight Dr, I guess people want to know what’s going on?”

The camera changes to a heavy set man with an unkempt beard and thick glasses sitting in an office. “Thank you for having me on your show Brad, this will be a first and last having a scientist on the entertainment program.” Both men laugh but its kind of forced. “Well, I can say that we are still here, that we haven’t been moved somewhere. We are in constant radio contact with the astronauts in the International Space Station. We are currently waiting on satellite imagery from the Hubble Telescope but according to them the entire planet is covered in some kind of inky black shroud.”

“Fascinating”, Brad cuts in nodding slowly; there is a slight dull look in his eyes. “So what exactly is this…shroud?”

Dr Basset hesitates for a few seconds then shrugs “No idea Brad, no one does. I suppose its possible that some form of gas cloud, or particle field could be moving across the earth, something we couldn’t see with our satellites.”

The camera pans back to Brad Johnson. “Well, if this phenomenon has stumped our scientific community, maybe our next guest can shed some light on the subject. He is Cardinal Myers, the cardinal of the dioceses of Washington DC. Cardinal, is this the day of reckoning?”

The camera changes to an office with book shelves lining the walls and a massive desk covered in papers and books. An older man with white hair, dressed in cardinal red, sits behind the desk.

“Rome has not made an official statement on this phenomenon but I think I can safely say that these are not the events set out in Revelations. There are a clear set of sign, portents, and events which will precede the great war between heaven and hell. For one, there has been no rapture…”

“The Rapture?” Brad cuts in as if the word was spoken in Mandarin.

“Yes, God’s calling of his faithful to heaven to serve heaven. We have had a lot of things happen in the last couple of hours but not that. No, I think for the time being I am going to have to defer to the good Dr Basset on the cause of this unnatural phenomenon.”

“So this isn’t the end of the world?” Brad asks.

The cardinal locks his hands together and sets them on the desk. “I don’t know. I don’t think so, but this could be a test that God has put before us. Maybe it’s a sign to shake us up from our material lives, to return to us the awe and fear of mystery. I would ask that people pray, together, with family and neighbors, don’t face this test alone.”

The camera returns to Brad. “Okay, and now our last panel member. We thought we would cover all bases here today so we sought the scientific answer and religious guidance, but now we turn to the occult. Our next guest in Patricia Newhaven from Boston, Mass. Patricia, what is the occult community saying about this event?”

The camera changes to a living room with dark rich drapes and a large colorful couch. An older woman dressed in a colorful dress sits with a tea cup in the center of the couch.

“Brad, the occult or paranormal community is abuzz with this event. First, this is not a planned eclipse or solar event, at least not on any known calendar. I have talked to several psychics and they all tell me that their senses are off the chart and that whatever is causing this is creating that feedback.”

“So you disagree with Dr Basset that this is some kind of cosmic space cloud?” Brad asks.

“Why yes, this is definitely some form of mystic phenomenon that probably predates our written or even spoken history. There might not have even been humans around the last time this happened or if there were, we might have been too primitive to have comprehended it.”

The camera returns to Brad. “I want to thank our panel. We will be returning to them periodically throughout the day to get additional feedback from these three unique perspectives, but I have one last final question for all of you. What do you have to say in regard to reports of monster sightings?”

The camera first goes to Dr Basset. “I think that in times of high stress, people’s imaginations will get the best of them. I’ve seen some of the same reports and from what I can tell it’s mostly linked to people looting with masks on.”

The camera switches to Cardinal Myer. “I agree with Dr Basset. I think that this event is very frightening and very religious people may unfortunately superimpose their knowledge of scripture into an over taxed mind.” An arm comes into view from off screen and hands the cardinal a small slip of paper. He reads it then looks back up to the camera. “I have been asked to let people know that instructions from the Arch Diocese to read a phone number. It’s a hotline that people can call if they feel that they have witnessed anything out of the ordinary or just need to talk to a priest. Its 1-800-999-5555.”

The camera switches to Patricia Newhaven. “I think that will all of this extra energy in the air, there is a chance that it may unlock certain dormant abilities in us all. It might even give people quick flashes into the spirit world where an untrained mind might see monsters”.

The camera returns to Brad. “Ok, that wraps up this session. Now I am going to turn it over to Chad Michaels who is on location in Iceland where people wonder what all the fuss is about.”

Back in the diner the faces are still turned toward the TV…all except those that turn nervously back to the glass windows and the dark day outside. The young boy, Timmy, seems to have regained consciousness and the young waitress, Cindy, is hovering over him asking him if he is alright. One of the truckers snorts “I hope those kids found there way ok. I wouldn’t want to be out on the road on a day like this.” The older waitress, Martha, shakes her head and sets down her coffee. “If I don’t have a smoke in the next few minutes I am going to lose my mind.”

The Dark Day Story

The Dark Day adventure begins on December 31st 1999, the day before the new millennium and the dreaded specter of Y2K. The players each began the day separately, introducing them, their lives, and some of their unique circumstances; but, by early the next morning they have all managed to do two things: 1) Have an encounter with what appears to be a recently-homeless man who shouted at them “you will be there when it happens, you will see and you will know the truth” and 2) Each ended up in a gas station/diner off of Interstate 95 in northern Maryland.

One or more of the players recognizes the homeless man in the diner. He becomes agitated as a black limousine pulls up to the gas station and several men in suits with earpieces get out. From out of the back of the limo steps the Independent Representative from Maryland Senator Douglas Carlson. The homeless man stands up and shouts “You will all see” and then runs outside toward the Senator. As he does, one of the agents pulls a gun and shoots the man. As his body hits the ground there is a moment of silence and then the sky disappears into inky blackness.

Although the sky is dark the lights from the gas station illuminate the area around the pumps. The Senator’s limo lurches and the insides are filled with a green light. The Senator begins to walk toward the fallen man but his bodyguard gets in the way. “Back into the car Senator, you have work to do.”

The Senator begins to push past the bodyguard “That man needs medical attention!”
He takes one step forward and long black tendrils of shadow erupt from the back of the limo and drag him screaming inside. The green light surges then dies as the limo speeds away from the diner. Just in time as a fuel truck slams into the pumps, pinning an SUV with a family inside. Smoke begins pouring from the hood of the fuel truck and the screams of the trapped family almost drown out the screams coming from inside the diner.

Chaos ensued and the players had to survive in a world turned upside down. For 24 hours they worked to keep each other alive, tried to find out what was going on, and tried to connect with family and friends.